Various lasers are used today as proximity detectors for target seeker heads. Most of the employed systems are fast range finders determining the distance from the seeker head to the target, and when this distance is below a predetermined value, the proximity detectors activate the explosive material.
The existing proximity detection systems operate effectively in an airborne atmosphere, where no adjacent bodies generate reflections of the laser range finder. In ground applications, greater care must be taken not to be triggered by dust or clatter, and hence targets are identified by their size and shape or by other means such as temperature and magnetism.
The location of small boats on the sea water surface is a challenge due to the small dimensional features of the boats which are of the same magnitude as the sea waves, and thus, in such cases, a novel approach is required.